Apparatus for printing on surfaces not readily absorptive of printing mediums



y 3, 1958 L. MASTELLA 2,834,291

APPARATUS FOR PRINTING ON SURFACES NOT READILY ABSORPTIVE OF PRINTINGMEDIUMS Filed April 21, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

Jazz 13 jl lasiella; wwzww May 13, 1958 L. MASTELLA 2,834,291

' APPARATUS FOR PRINTING ON SURFACES NOT READILY ABSORPTIVE OF PRINTINGMEDIUMS Filed April 21, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 FIG: 2

INVEN TOR. Lows Masiella May 13, 1958 1 MASTELLA 2,834,291

APPARATUS FOR PRINTING ON SURFACES NOT READILY ABSORPTIVE OF PRINTINGMEDIUMS Filed April 21, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 7

FIG r6 A.: A 36 39 IN V EN TOR.

Louis Masiella 4' m-a dow- United States Patent APPARATUS FOR PRINTING NSURFACES NOT READILY ABSGRPTIVE OF PRINTING MEDIUMS Louis Mastella,Cicero, Ill., assignor to Wm.

Wrigley, Jr., Company, Chicago,

III., a corporation of Delaware Application April 21, 1955, Serial No.502,914

Claims. (Cl. 101-350) a is of the general type disclosed in my copendingapplication Serial No. 345,593, filed March 30, 1953, now Patent No.2,775,193, for Mechanism for Applying Indicia to Packages or the Like.

To present neat and attractive appearance and to preserve the moisturecontent and general freshness of food, confectionery and the like, it iscustomary to wrap them in protective and moisture retaining wrappers andto package them. Wax is often used as an adhesive for the outer wrapper;-Also, it is common practice to use an outer wrapper of a cellulose orlike material which, whether carrying wax on its outer surface or not-asa result of the sealing operation, is normally relatively non-absorptiveof usual ink and externally applied printing mediums. This isparticularly true of packages of chewing gum since chewing gum, ifallowed to'd'ry, becomes hard and brittle. Despite the presence of theeven laminated foil, waxed paper and cellulose wrappers, however, a slowdrying and hardening takes placein the chewing gum as it ages, so thatthe mere presence of such wrappings is not always sufficient guaranteeof the softness and freshness of the material therein. 7

One way in which the, freshness of wrapped and packaged chewing gum canbe assured is by marking each package with a code number at the time thepackage is made up, the code number providing an indication ofthe dateon which the package left the packaging machine. An inspection ofsimilar packages offeredfo'r sale by retail outlets would then revealwhichof the packages are over age and should be withdrawn from sale.

Since the wrappers which enclose the chewing gum package usuallyhave 'anouter wrapper of cellulose or like material folded at the ends andsealed with wax, in

addition to' laminated inner foil and waxed paper wrappings, and sincethe end of the package is a convenient place to apply a code number orsuitable indicia indicating a date or other information, it is necessaryto apply thefmark to a relatively non-absorptive surface which may havea coating of wax thereon as a result of the wax sealing of 'folds. It'isdifficult to apply a code marking to the package end surface withouthaving the mark smear when applied or in subsequent handling of thepackage. z 7

It is an object of this invention to provide apparatus for placing acolored mark on a relatively non-absorbent surface, which mark will notbe smeared, or otherwise erased ordistorted by .such abrasion as isencountered during the ordinary handling of a package.

A more specific object of this invention is the provision of apparatusfor printing numbers or the like upon a moving surface of smooth andrelatively non'absorbent material, the printed numbers beingsufficiently hard and adequately adhered to the surface to resist beingsmeared by contact with other similar surfaces, or by ordinary handling.

A further specific object of this invention is the provision ofapparatus for automatically printing a code number in wax upon a movingsurface.

A feature of this invention is a means for continuously impregnating aporous roller with colored wax or other thermo-liquefied printingmedium, so that such printing medium may be transferred from a tank orvessel containing the printing medium in liquid form to the raisedcharacters of the printing roller in a uniform and satisfactory manner.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description when taken together with the accompanyingdrawings showing a preferred embodiment thereof and in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the printing apparatus of this inventionshown in an application to the printing of indiciaon the ends of amoving stream of pre-arranged packages of chewing gum;

Fig. 2 is a side sectional view of the printing apparatus of Fig. 1, theview being taken substantially on a line 22 of Fig. 1, and in thedirection of the accompanying arrows;

Fig. 3 is another side sectional view of the printing apparatus of Fig.1, wherein the section is taken substantially on a line 3-3 of Fig. 1and in the direction of the arrows;

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are side elevational views of certain of the parts ofan applicator mechanism for the printing medium as used in my printingapparatus;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary end sectional view of my printing apparatus, theview being taken substantially on line '77 of Fig. 2 and in thedirection of the associated arrows;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary top plan view of the printing mechanism utilizedin the disclosed printing apparatus;

- and Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a typical package with which theprinting apparatus of this invention may be used. The means for drivingthe printing mechanism of this invention'is described and claimed indetail in my aforesaid copending application, and hence will bedescribed herein only in sufficient detail for an understanding of itsstructure and operation in association with the invention disclosed andclaimed herein. Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 7, there is shown acontinuous stream 10 of packages 12 of chewing gum or the like as it isforcibly propelled along a chute 11 connected to the output of awrapping machine (not shown), the force for the movement of the streamof packages being derived from said wrapping machine. The packageschosen for illustration are of rectangular section and elongated form,and may contain the usual five sticks of chewing gum. As shown in Fig.9, each package 12 is completely wrapped in a laminated wrapper havingan inner foil layer, an intermediate layer of waxed paper and an outerlayer of a cellulose sheet or the like, which outer layer is smooth,slick and relatively non-absorptive of ordinary printing mediums, suchas ink. A composite laminated wrapper 13 is folded and overlapped at theends of the package to form trapezoidal flaps 14,15, 16 and 17 havingthe cellulose layer exposed. The flaps are held in place and sealed bywax, some of Which may squeeze out onto the exposed end surface of thepackage, thereby presenting additional resistance to the adhesion ofordinary printing mediums. The last flap to be folded is flap 17 and itpresents the asst-gar greatest area to the exterior of the package.therefore, is utilized to receive the printed eode n nbeg indicating thedate on which the package passed through the code printing apparatus.The code number is shown in Fig. 9 as letter X, but it isunderstpod thatany suitable number, letter or mark may be usedfor this purpose.

The packages 12 pass along chuteis. in engaging sideby-side relation,each package pushing the one a hea d,of it, and the last package toleave the wrapping-machine propelling all those between it and theprinting apparatus hereinafter to be described.

The motive power for the printing apparatus is derived from the forcedmovements of the packages themselves and is translated through a pair ofspaced wheels 18 secured to, and adapted to drive, a shaft 19 supportedin depending journals 20 on a frame 21 of the printing apparatus. 7 V

The outer periphery of each wheel 18 isserrated to form spaced teeth 22,with the adjacent teeth spaced to receive therebetween a package 1.2 asmeasured along chute 11 in the direction of travel of said package.Teeth 22 project through suitable openings23 and 24 in chute 11, and theouter projecting regions ofthe teeth have peripheral dimensions suchthat they are contacted by the forward edge of alternate ones oftheengagedmoving packages and are moved longitudinally of chute 11 with thepackages. This movement is similar to that produced in a sprocket wheeland results in a rotation of the wheels 18. a V I The rotation of thewheels 18 is transmitted to an adjacent shaft 25 by sprockets 26 and 27connected to.- gether by a driving chain 28. Said shaft 25 is disposedtransversely of chute 11 and substantially parallel to shaft 19, and isalso and similarly suitably journaled in the frame 21. To equalize theforces on the moving packages resulting from the endwise printingoperation, two printing devices are used, one at each end of a packageand they are synchronizedto perform their printing operationssimultaneously, Since the two printing devices are substantially thesame except that they are leftand right-hand devices, this descriptionwill be confined to just one of the deviees, -which will be theonedepicted in more detail in Figs. 1, Zand 3, with only a passingrefer, ence to the portion of the other device, shown in detail forcompleteness in Figs. 7 and 8.

Referring to Fig. 3, there is shown mounted on the end of shaft 25 abevel gear 29 which meshes with a bevel 'gear 30 pinned to a verticalshaft 31 for rotation therewith. Said shaft 25 is mounted inantifriction bear.- ings 32 and 33, and the upper end 3ftthereof ismadeof larger diameter to form a shoulder 35 by which the shaft 1 issuspended in bearing 33. Keyed to the upper end 34 of the shaft 31 is anarrow printing roller 36 having a series of equally spaced code numbersor letters designatedby reference numerals 37 and which are formed onthe outer periphery of the printing roller. Immediately adjacent the printing roller 36 and similarly keyed to upper end 34 of the shaft 31 isa gripper wheel 38 having a series of relatively widely spaced pairs ofserrated grippers 39 formed on the outer periphery thereof. It may benoted (Fig. 8) that the spacing betweenadjacent grippers 39 isalternately different and such that the larger spacing provides contactat spaced positions on the ends of adjacent packages near the front andrear edges thereof as they pass along the chute. Identical gripperwheels are used at the two ends of the package so that said ends areheld by the grippers while the printing rollers operate thereon, therebypreventing sliding of the packages past the printing rollers, as fullyset forthin my aforesaid copending application. It may also be notedthat a portion 40 of the end of a package held between adjacentgrip'pers'is caused by such I grippers to bow outwardly, therebyinsuring contact between the end of the package and the printing rolleradjacent thereto during the printing operation.

A gear 41 is secured to gripper wheel 38 and printing roller6 by a pairof machine screws 42 in such manner that these three elements areconstrained to rotate together. Gear 41 meshes with a pinion 43 mountedon a shaft 44 which is rotatable about an axis substantially parallel tothe axis-of the shaft 31. Also mounted on the shaft 44 and in proximityto the pinion 43 is a spool 45, said spool having a counterbore 46forming a shoulder 47 which abuts on a snap ring 48 disposed in aperipheral groove in the shaft 44. A machine screw 49 is threaded in theend of shaft 44, and a washer 50, serve to clamp the pinion 43 and thespool against the snap ring 48 to compel rotation of the spool 45 withpinion 43.

A flange 51 at the top of the spool is integral with the spool body 45and a snap ring 52 is mounted in a peripheral groove near the lower endof the spool to provide a removable support for a porous cylinder 53 offelt or the like and of a size to be slipped over and carried by thespool 45. The upper end of cylinder 53 is disposed at a position to becontacted by the code numbers 37 as the printing roller and feltcylinder 53 are rotated. The lower end of cylinder 53 is immersed inliquid colored wax 54 which functions, in the present instance, as theprinting medium and which is held in a container 55 which, in thedisclosed structure, is integral with frame 21.

Although the lower end of felt cylinder 53 is immersed in wait 54, ithas been found that the wax will not readily work its way upward throughthe felt to the vicinity of the printing roller by capillary action assome printing mediums, such as ink, would do. The upward movement istherefore given impetus by a simple pump comprising a spiral groove 56(Fig. 4) in the outer cylindrical surface of a stationary sleeve 57having an eccentric attaching flange 58 at the lower end thereof throughwhich the sleeve 57 is secured to the bottom of the container 55 by apair of screws 59.

Sleeve 57 and its groove 56' extend upwardly into the counterbore 46 ofthe spool 45, and the counterbored portion of said spool is provided atthe region adjacent the upper end of counterbore '46 with a plurality ofradial openings 60 (-Fig. 5) arranged in a double row. A clearance ofbetween 0.005 to 0.01 inch is provided between the outer surface ofsleeve 57 and the interior surface of counterbore 46. Spiral groove 56also extends downwardly beyond the lower end of spool 45 in freecommunication with the printing medium, so that the liquid printingmedium may readily enter the groove.

It may be apparent that when the described mechanism is in operation,the movement of packages 12on chute 11 causes rotation of wheels'18which, in turn, causes rotation-of shaft 19, and then, through sprockets26, chain 28 and sprocket 27, causes rotation of shaft 25. This, inturn, results in a rotation of gear 29 which drives double gear 30 andits associated shaft 31. Shaft 31 drives gear 41, and this results in arotation of pinion 43 and its associated spool 45. It may be observedthat there is a speed multiplication between sprockets 26 and 27 and afurther speed multiplication 'bet'ween gear 41 and gear 43 dueto therelative sizesof these sprockets and gears. Spool 45 therefore will bedriven at'a relatively continuous rate which is proportional to theamount of colored printing medium required for printing purposes, andthis rotation will cause printing mediums, such as 'liquefied wax, to bepicked'up by the interior surface of counterbore 46 and urged upwardlyalong spiralgroove 56 and into the openings 60. There it is confined byshoulder 47 and a slight pressure will thus be developed in the printingmedium pickedup which 'will cause the printing medium, even thoughmorevisc'ous than some liquids, to flow through the openings 60 into thefelt cylinder '53, and then through said cylinder to the upper regionthereof which is contacted by the indicia'37 on "the printing roller 36.A continuous supply of printing medium at the printing roller is thusassured.

The'printing medium, as utilized in my disclosed structure, being athermo-liquefied medium, such as a wax having a color contrasting withthat of the surfaces to which it is to be applied, must be kept hot inorder to remain sufficiently fluid to function as a printing medium. Thebottom of container 55 is therefore bored out as at '61 (Fig. 2) toreceive a cylindrical electrical heating element 62 which is suppliedwith electricity through lead wires 63 from a suitable source ofelectrical energy. Adjacent one of said heating elements, as seen inFig. 7, is a second bore 64 in which a thermostat 65 is mounted, whichthermostat is electrically connected in the circuit of the heatingelements 62 and functions to maintain the temperature of the heatedprinting medium within predetermined limits. Only one such thermostat isnecessary since both heating elements may be controlled from the onethermostat.

It has been found that the printing medium will harden very quicklyafter it is applied to the relatively cool surface of the package, andtherefore there is little or no danger that the code number or symbolapplied to the ends of the packages will be smeared after theapplication. Furthermore, it may be observed that the printing rolleractually indents the ends of the packages and the code number thereforeis placed upon a portion of the end which is concave; that is, it isplaced inwardly of the edges of the end regions and therefore there islittle or no likelihood that the code number or symbol will contact thesides of the chute as the packages leave the printing station.

It may be apparent from the foregoing description that.

an entirely automatic means has been provided for applying code numbersor symbols adhesively to the ends of packages wrapped with a smooth,slick and relatively non-absorptive outer wrapping material which, insome instances, may have a surface coating of wax thereon, the codenumber or symbol adhering readily to the surface and hardeningsufliciently to prevent smearing or distortion thereof throughsub-sequent manipulation or handling of the packages. A relatively softwick-like material is used as the applicator for supplying an adequatecoating of printing medium to the printing roller despite the fact thatthe printing medium is of a type which does not flow readily throughsuch material by capillary action. However, this characteristic of thethermo-liquefied wax printing medium is readily nullified by the simplepump provided on the interior of the applicator.

It is understood that the foregoing description is merely illustrativeof a preferred embodiment of the invention and that the inventiontherefore is not to be limited thereto but is to be determined by theappended claims.

I claim: a

1. Apparatus for printing indicia upon a relatively non-absorptivesurface comprising a printing roller having embossed thereon the indiciato be printed, a reservoir having therein a supply of coloredthermo-liquefied printing medium, means for maintaining the printingmedium in liquid state, 'a soft porous roller of cylindrical shaperotatable about a central axis parallel to the axis of the printingroller, one axial end of the soft porous roller being immersed, in theliquefied printing medium in said reservoir and the other end beingabove the liquefied printing medium in the reservoir and in contact withthe printing roller, and means responsive to the rotation of the softporous roller for compelling the liquefied printing medium to travelfrom the reservoir to the said end of the soft porous roller which is incontact with the printing roller.

2. Apparatus for printing indicia upon a surface comprising a printingroller having embossed thereon the indicia to be printed, a reservoirfor holding a supply of a normally solid printing medium, means formaintaining the printing medium in the reservoir in liquid state, a feltroller disposed in such manner as to have a region thereof continuouslysubmerged in the liquefied print- 6 a ing medium and a region thereofspaced from the first region and in contact with the indicia on theprinting roller, a hollow core of rigid material for supporting the feltroller, means for rotatably supporting the core, said means comprising asleeve, means for securing the sleeve to the bottom of the reservoir,said sleeve extending into the hollow core and having the exteriorsurface of said sleeve spaced between five and ten thousandths of aninch from the interior surface of the hollow core, a plurality ofradially disposed openings establishing communication from the sleeve tothe felt, said sleeve hav ing a spiral groove of such hand as to causeliquefied printing medium to be moved axially of the core from thereservoir to the openings and then through the openings to the feltroller, such movement being created by the rotation of the core aboutsaid sleeve.

3. Apparatus for printing indicia upon a relatively slick andnon-absorptive wrapper for a package, said apparatus comprising aprinting roller having embossed thereon the indicia to be printed, meansfor rotatably supporting said roller with the indicia in contact withthe Waxed wrapper, a reservoir for carrying a supply of thermo-liquefiedWax printing medium adjacent the printing roller, means for maintainingthe wax in the reservoir in liquid state, a soft porous roller having aregion thereon continuously submerged in the liquefied wax and a regionthereon spaced from the first region and in contact with the indicia onthe printing roller, and means for compelling the liquefied wax totravel from the reservoir through the porous roller to the indicia onthe printing roller, said last-mentioned means comprising a core for theporous roller, means for rotatably supporting said core in such mannerthat the first and second above mentioned regions will be disposed withreference to the liquefied wax and the roller as aforesaid, said corebeing hollow and having a plurality of radially disposed openingstherein establishing communication from the interior of the hollow coreto the interior of the porous roller, a sleeve extending within thehollow portion of the core and in proximity to the openings, theexterior surface of said sleeve being spaced between five and tenthousandths of an inch from the interior surface of the core, means forsupporting the sleeve from the reservoir, said sleeve having a spiralgroove in the exterior surface thereof and extending upwardly in adirection to cause the liquefied Wax to flow along the said exteriorsurface of the sleeve upward to said radially disposed openings andthence through said openings into the porous roller.

4. Apparatus for printing indicia upon a surface comprising a printingroller having embossed thereon the indicia to be printed, a reservoirfor holding a supply of a normally solid printing medium, means formaintaining the printing medium in the reservoir in a liquid state, afelt roller of generally cylindrical shape having one axial end thereofcontinuously submerged in the liquified printing medium and a region atthe other end thereof spaced from the first region and in contact withthe indicia on the printing roller, a hollow core of rigid material forsupporting the felt roller, means for supporting the core for rotationabout an axis located centrally of the core, said means comprising asleeve, means for supporting the sleeve from the reserovir, said sleeveextending into the hollow core and having the exterior surface thereofspaced from the interior surface of the hollow core, a plurality ofradially disposed openings in the core for establishing communicationfrom the sleeve to the felt roller, said sleeve having a spiral groovetherein for causing liquified printing medium to be moved axially of thecore from the reservoir to the openings and then through the openings tothe felt roller, such movement of liquified printing medium in thespiral groove being created by the rotation of the core about thesleeve.

5. Apparatus for printing indicia upon a surface comprising a printingroller having embossed thereon the indicia to be printed, a reservoirfor carrying therein a supply'of normally immobile printing mediumhaving a predetermined normal level in the reservoir, means formaintaining the printing medium in the reservoir in liquid state, ahollow felt roller of cylindrical outer shape having an axial end regionthereon continuously submerged in the liquified printing medium and aregion thereon spaced above the first region and in contact with theindicia on the printing roller, a rigid core providing a support for thefelt roller, said core having radially disposed openings above thenormal liquid level in the reservoir and establishing communication fromthe interior of the core to the felt roller, and pump means for forcingReferences Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 541,078Dolphin June 18, 1895 769,499 Sheetz Sept. -6, 1904 1,840,069 Walker etal. Jan. 5, 1932 2,086,191 Rutkoskie July 6, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS137,227 Australia May 15, 1950

